but she is keeping her current job and may eventually even expand her role in the obama administration, despite these attacks from her critics. joining me now is ambassador nicholas burns, former under secretary of state and ambassador to nato. and, governor martin o'maley, democrat for maryland and co-chair of the health and security committee at the national governor's association. thank you both for coming on the show tonight. >> i thank you. >> thank you. >> now, ambassador burns, you had a distinguished diplomatic career. how do you explain what happened today? >> i think it's very unfair what happened to ambassador rice. she has all the qualities that one would want in secretary of state. she's smart. she's very tough-minded. she has a lot of experience at a high level serving as ambassador of the united nations. really, the last 20 years as she began working for president clinton, which is where i first met her, she served at a very high level of distinction. and, in my view, would have made a very fine secretary of state. it's a shame that the process had to unfold the way it d